On January 10, 2023, President Lula sanctioned Law N.º. 14.801, introducing a new financial instrument: Infrastructure Debentures. According to the legislation, specific purpose companies, concessionaires, permission holders, authorization holders or lessees are authorized to issue these debentures, as long as they are constituted in the form of a Stock Company.
The resources from the offer must be directed to investments in the infrastructure area or to promote research, development and innovation in priority sectors to be regulated by the Executive Branch.
What differentiates this new type of issuance and drives the market is the tax benefit, which, in this case, is aimed at the issuer. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the possibility of deducting amounts paid in interest, in the respective year, from the issuer’s Income Tax (IRPJ) and Social Contribution on Net Profit (CSLL) calculation basis. Furthermore, seeking to attract foreign investors, the possibility of issuing debentures with an exchange rate variation clause is considered to reduce the exchange rate risk in the operation, upon authorization from the federal Executive Branch.
Alongside the existing incentivized debentures, the creation of this instrument seeks to attract new investments in the sector.
